Book Two Wylan: Chapter 10
Portals and Promises
Chapter 10: Portals and Promises
1993
Wylan waited until the suns were setting to embark on his one-man mission to the village. Blending into the shadows was a better approach than hoping no one noticed the little boy on the wanted posters still papered around the village square was now a man.
He took the path that cut through the orchards and meadows. As he neared the village and passed one of the rivers of whispers, a crooked string of storybook-like cottages ran parallel. Outside one of them was a table with a feast laid out. A teen boy was eating everything in sight while Tamsin watched, delighted. Wylan sank deeper into his cloak and hid behind a thick, towering tree,
“And now we dance!” Tamsin’s high, clear voice rang out. She clapped her hands together in anticipation, and her rosy cheeks split into a beaming grin.
“Dance? Dancing is for losers,” the teen smirked.
He shouldn’t have said that. He’s in for it now, Wylan held up his bow and gauged the shot. He was too far to take it where he was hidden. He’d have to get a lot closer to get even remotely close to hitting Tamsin. He couldn’t risk it. Tamsin still probably thought he was a scared little boy hiding in the Severing Grove. She didn’t need to know that he was an armed man.
It’s good that she’s here. Now I can talk to London without her on the prowl, Wylan felt a conflicting surge of gratitude for his good fortune and pity for the teen’s bad luck. He wasn’t close enough to put him out of his misery either. Wylan picked up his pace to the village, eager to leave the teen’s screaming and crying in the distance. He was beyond help or saving.
Another human, though, wasn’t. The same elderly hunch-backed fae who liked to wear a little girl glamour and make flower crowns under the trees was in the process of stealing a young girl’s name when Wylan’s arrow tore through her throat, killing her on the spot.
The human girl screamed and looked at Wylan in terror. She shielded her eyes from the dead body in front of her and bolted.
“Don’t tell them your name and don’t eat their food,” Wylan said to her retreating back. It’s good that she’s running. Maybe she’ll survive this place. Wylan wouldn’t take her back to his treehouse. It was just big enough for him and Kaelis now that they were adults. He wouldn’t take on the responsibility of another life.
He skirted around the village square, empty as always this time of night, except for the many stray cats, and ducked and weaved his way to the garden.
“London! I need to know about where–” Wylan froze as the golden post came into view. London was gone. In his place was a girl with a pale, hollowed face, haunted eyes, and stringy hair. It’s what she was wearing that gave Wylan pause. Ripped jeans, bloodied in the knees. It was Paige.
Wylan hung back. This could be a trap. But it was also the only chance he had. He crept up to the girl.
“Paige,” he whispered.
“Who?” The girl asked in a raw, croaky voice.
“That’s your name,” Wylan whispered, “It’s Paige.” He wanted to tell her that the fae who stole her name was dead. But he hesitated. What good would that do her now? By the looks of things, she’d eaten the food. She was stuck here for an eternity. Why give her false hope?
“Paige,” the girl repeated in a faint voice.
“How long have you been out here?” Wylan whispered.
“Could be forever,” Paige said in the same lackluster voice. “My mistress … she traded me … I don’t know how many days ago. Could be months, even.”
“Why did she trade you?”
Paige shrugged, and the golden bells on the post tinkled.
“There was a boy who used to be here. Do you know where he went?”
“Don’t know anything about a boy,” Paige said. It sounded like it hurt her to talk.
He can’t be dead. Please don’t let him be dead, Wylan wished. What he started to say next was cut off by a fae that emerged from the shadows.
His luminous green eyes glinted, and his lips parted into a wicked grin, “Ha. We knew it!”
The fae man touched his fingers down to the dirt. At his touch, vines thick as snakes slithered out. They aimed straight for Wylan.
He couldn’t run. They were already wrapped around his ankles and crawling up his body.
Wylan grabbed one of his arrows and stabbed it into the vines. They continued to climb and wrap around his legs and torso. He stabbed them harder, desperate to stop them before they could reach his neck.
The golden bells tinkled as Paige launched herself at the fae.
Distracted and taken aback by Paige’s attack on him, the vines slackened around Wylan. He sliced through them and yanked them off. Sore and panting, Wylan pivoted to the fae and impaled him with the arrow.
The fae’s death was ugly and his dying gasps were loud. Wylan wasn’t going to stick around to see if any other fae came to his rescue.
“Run! Go!” Paige urged.
She didn’t need to tell him twice. Blending back into the shadows, Wylan made his way back to the stables.
“Goodbye, Paige,” Wylan whispered.
He backtracked out of the garden and looped around to the empty village square. There was no sign that just days earlier, Wylan and Kaelis released the unicorns. As Wylan tiptoed into the stables, he wondered if all of the white, horned horses were accounted for.
Inside the stable, he heard the unicorns nickering, snorting, and grunting. He smelled the hay mingled with the aroma of sickly sweet bubble gum. Maybe that’s their poop, Wylan mused. The hay and dirt underneath his boots was soft and pillowy and muffled the sounds of his feet.
Wylan crept through the part of the stables with unicorns contained in their stalls.
He was passing by a trough of water when a force shoved him from behind, pushing him face-first into the water.
His bow thudded to the ground as he jerked and spasmed, frantically trying not to breathe in the water. His attacker held his head down and Wylan desperately jabbed him with his elbows.
Blackness was creeping into his vision and his lungs screamed. Fighting against the force, Wylan was suddenly dragged out of the water as quickly as he was shoved into it.
Freed from the watery prison and gasping for air, Wylan blinked the dark spots out of his eyes. It was another fae and he cast an offended and disgusted look at the curly-haired boy who’d interrupted him.
Before he could turn back to Wylan to get another attack in, Wylan stomped on the fae’s feet and flung his cold iron chain belt around his neck. He yanked the fae close and pulled and twisted, breaking the struggling fae’s neck. He released his body, and the dead fae thudded hard to the ground.
The curly-haired boy stared at Wylan with wide eyes, his face drained of all color.
With his bow still at his feet, Wylan lunged for the boy, wrapping his iron chain around his neck. As Wylan choked the boy with the chain, the boy’s eyes bugged out as he wheezed and sputtered and thrashed in Wylan’s hold.
A blond stable boy and a stable girl rushed in.
“WAIT!” the stable girl screeched.
“The boy in the garden! Where is he!” Wylan demanded.
“He’s not a fae! We’re human! Let him go!” The stable girl cried.
“The boy in the garden,” Wylan squeezed tighter, “Tell me now, or I’ll snap his fucking neck just like the other one.”
The blond stable boy looked like he was ready to fight back. The stable girl next to him put a hand out onto his chest. “WAIT!” she cried out, “I think he’s the one who killed Rhylin on the day the unicorns got loose.”
Rhylin? Was that the fae I fed the rowan berry? Well. Shoved it into his unwilling mouth, at any rate. This isn’t going to be good.
“He’d been tormenting us for years,” the stable girl said. “If it wasn’t for you, he’d still be. That one too,” she nudged the newly dead fae with the toe of her boot.
I stand corrected.
Wylan loosened his hold on the curly-haired stable boy, “Happy to be of service,” Wylan said, forcing a grin.
“Pl-please… please l-l-let me g-go… I s-s-saved y-you!” the curly-haired stable boy in Wylan’s arm blurted.
Wylan released him and shoved him away with his knee. The stable boy ran over to his two companions, massaging his neck.
“The boy in the garden. I’m not going to repeat myself a fourth time,” Wylan warned.
“Just because we’re human doesn’t mean we know about where all the other humans are!” the blond stable boy said.
“He belongs to Tamsin. He might be in her mansion,” the stable girl said.
“Alive?” Wylan asked, bracing himself.
“Probably,” the curly-haired stable boy said, still rubbing his neck.
“I’m looking for two kittens also,” Wylan said.
“You’ve seen the town square. There are cats everywhere,” the blond stable boy said.
“Not these two. They’re yellow like butter and striped,” Wylan said.
“They might be in the mansion too,” the stable girl said.
“Might be? That’s not good enough,” Wylan cracked his knuckles.
“Tamsin keeps all kinds of cats and creatures. She has these horrible birds that she likes to set loose on us when she’s feeling especially vicious,” the stable girl said. “If you haven’t seen the kittens around the village, they’re probably in there.”
“How do I get in?”
The trio shuffled their feet.
“A door? Maybe a window?” The blond stable boy said.
“Is that meant to be funny?” Wylan picked up his bow. “Because I’m not laughing.”
“None of us are,” the stable girl said solemnly. “He has a point, though. There are loads of ways you can literally get into the mansion. Whether they’ll work …” she trailed off.
“What way do you think will work?” Wylan demanded.
“The kitchens are around back. They always have a lot of activity. A lot of fae and humans cycle in and out. If there was a place you might be able to blend in, that’s it. I used to be a kitchen girl before they moved me out here,” the stable girl said.
“How can I trust you? You might be leading me straight into their hands,” Wylan said accusatorily.
“How can we trust you? You came blazing in here trying to, what? Kill us?” the blond stable boy objected.
They had a point. Wylan floundered for an answer. “We’re all victims of Tamsin,” he finally said. “She hurt someone I care about, and I promised to help him. He’s why I’m here.”
“What can you do for us?” the blond stable boy asked.
Wylan could do what he did for London and Paige. “I can give you names again,” Wylan said.
The trio looked at him in awe.
“Bilbo, Peter, and Alice,” Wylan said, pointing to each as he named them.
“What are we supposed to do about …” Alice pointed at the dead fae.
Oh right. Wylan didn’t want these humans to be punished for what he did. “I’ll drag him out back. Let the other fae find him. And if they ask you anything, don’t tell them.”
“Wait! Before you go, there’s one more thing! Tamsin is engaged. She made the announcement today. A lot of fae will be coming and going to and from her mansion. Enough that someone might be able to slip it unnoticed, kitchen or not,” the curly-haired stable boy, Bilbo, said.
“When’s the wedding?” Wylan asked.
“Probably within the year,” Peter said. “The fae are slow with some of their celebrations. They like to stretch things out.”
“The man she’s marrying… there are rumors that he’s coming from another realm,” Alice said.
“Another realm?” Wylan’s heart pulsed harder and faster. “How are they going to get here?”
“Through portals no doubt,” Alice said.
“Portals … like the magic closet to Narnia in the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe?” Wylan asked eagerly.
“Or the Looking Glass in the second Alice in Wonderland book,” Alice said. “Whatever it is, it’ll probably be in Tamsin’s mansion too.”
***
When Wylan returned to the Severing Grove and the treehouse, he eagerly updated Kaelis.
“We’re not waiting until her wedding to find my brother and sister,” Kaelis demanded.
“Okay,” Wylan said. He’d need to make good on his promise after all. Plus, maybe they’d be able to get more information on Tamsin’s upcoming wedding from inside the house. Hell, this could be Wylan’s chance to find London, too.
“We’ll sneak in through the kitchen like Alice said. My ankle will be better soon. C’mere,” Kaelis beckoned Wylan closer.
Wylan leaned in. Kaelis kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you, Wylan.”
Wylan grinned, “You missed.”
“Missed?”
“Missed,” Wylan said, kissing Kaelis on his lips. It felt so right. So real. Kaelis kissed him back.
***
“A little closer … a little closer …” Wylan muttered, his eyes locked onto the trio of fae that were hauling the dead bodies of the fae Wylan killed in the garden and stables to the cemetery outside the Severing Grove.
Two of the fae, probably earth fae like the one who sent his vines after Wylan, dug ditches in record time. One was unceremoniously dumping a body into the grave when Wylan shot an arrow at his hand.
The fae swore and froze in place, eyes scanning rapidly. When Wylan didn’t shoot him a second time, he tossed his head back and laughed. “The bug-eating cat fucker isn’t such a good shot, is he? He missed!”
Kaelis raised his eyebrows at Wylan.
“It’s an experiment. I dipped in a different combination of toxic flowers. Sure, a kill shot to the heart works. But I’m done with giving these creatures merciful deaths. Let’s see how he does with this one. Maybe he’ll lose his hand entirely. Or maybe it’ll spread to other parts of his body. Whatever happens, it’ll be painful. Maybe slow. Maybe fast. But it’s going to be excruciating.” Wylan said gleefully.
“Let’s go back to the village before he misses again,” the fae grinned.
“Back? You’re not going anywhere! It might be contagious, you fool!” One of the fae screeched. “We can’t have a plague starting all because you’re too foolish to realise you’re being treated as an experiment!”
He turned to his companion and commanded, “Do it!”
Unflinchingly, the third fae whipped out a dagger and plunged it into the shot fae’s chest. It was so fast he didn’t even gasp in surprise. The two remaining fae hurriedly shoved his body into one of the graves, dumped dirt on it, and hustled away, throwing looks over their shoulders all the while.
“So much for your experiment,” Kaelis sighed.
“I tried,” Wylan shrugged. “Ready to go back to the village?”
When the duo arrived, the village square was decked out for another execution. Wylan and Kaelis, in his cat form, made their way through the joyous crowd unnoticed.
“The kitchens will probably be busier than usual. Our timing is perfect,” Wylan muttered to Kaelis out of the corner of his mouth.
Kaelis purr-meowed in response.
They passed by the gardens on their way around the mansion, and Wylan saw that the golden post was empty. No Paige. No London. A wave of dread crashed over him. But he couldn’t let himself dwell on it. He and Kaelis had to keep moving. Maybe today would be the day they’d reunite with Lyris and Tallis, Kaelis’s sister and brother.
The courtyard outside the kitchen was vibrant and green. Orchard trees were heavy with fruit. Lemons and strawberries sparkled like jewels and there were more rainbow apples like the tree Kaelis sprung out of when they first met.
Garden patches were bursting with vegetables and herbs. A well glittered with crystal clear water, and one storage shed held logs of wood, while another was cold to the touch with frosty windows. Wylan peeked inside and saw lumps of cheese and pitchers of cream. It must be enchanted to keep them chilled.
Wylan crouched behind the cold shed as Kaelis sneaked into the kitchens. A human emerged shortly after and went over to tend to the vegetable patches and herb gardens. Head down and humming to herself, she didn’t notice a butter colored tabby cat trotting out of the kitchen and circling around to the shed. Kaelis transformed back into his human self.
“Now’s the perfect time for you to sneak in,” Kaelis whispered. “I’ll lead the way.”
“You want us to go together?” Wylan whispered.
“Always,” Kaelis whispered back.
I wish I could transform into an animal too, Wylan took in a deep, steadying breath. He’d just need to act like he belonged. Like he was just another enslaved human in Tamsin’s household. He didn’t want to leave his bow and arrows behind, but walking around the mansion armed was a surefire way to draw attention to himself.
He tucked his bow and cloak behind the cold shed and covered them with brush. He stuffed his arrows under his shirt. A bow he could probably replace if he needed to. The arrows with their special metal tips were irreplaceable.
The kitchen was crowded and bustling as Kaelis and Wylan slipped in, just like Alice said it’d be. It looked like there was a combination of fae and enslaved humans, just like at the stables.
The heat of the ovens hit Wylan first. Then the fragrant aromas of bread and pastries baking and the sizzling and boiling sounds of pots and pans.
Fae and human eyes alike were fixed on preparing a feast. Wylan and Kaelis dodged and weaved their way through the commotion, unseen.
“Where do we start?” Wylan whispered to Kaelis. He was at a loss of how to tackle the enormous estate.
Unhesitatingly, Kaelis silently trotted down the first hallway they encountered.
The pattern on the wallpaper was so chaotic and colorful, it practically stung Wylan’s eyes to look at.
They passed through what appeared to be a library and a sitting room.
Beyond them, a set of grand double doors opened onto a shiny ballroom. The floor gleamed and the chandeliers and walls glimmered and glowed.
Some of the light came from cages mounted to the walls and hanging from the ceiling with sparkly pixies flitting around inside them.
“How inhumane,” Wylan whispered to Kaelis. Kaelis gave a feline version of a nod, and pressed on.
There was no coverage going through the sprawling ballroom, so the duo opted to pass by the yawning doors instead of through them.
They were winding down a curving hallway when Kaelis meowed and abruptly dropped to the ground. He rolled on his back, flashing his belly to someone beyond Wylan’s line of sight.
He’s distracting them for me to hide. Heat flooded Wylan’s body as he slipped through a doorway to his left and hid around the darkened corner.
He heard a fae or human cooing over how cute Kaelis was. When they stopped and their footsteps retreated in the opposite direction, Wylan stalked back into the hallway. “Nice one,” he whispered to Kaelis.
A part of Wylan wanted to pitch splitting up. He wanted to see London again. But the other part of him knew he needed to make good on his promise to help Kaelis find Lyris and Tallis.
Maybe after we find them I can say I want to look for London before we leave, Wylan considered. As they crept through a music room, footsteps approached them.
With a racing heart, Wylan dropped down to a squat and hid behind the piano. Using the large instruments as coverage, Wylan and Kaelis stealthily maneuvered their way out into another hallway. Other than footsteps and murmured conversation in the distance it was empty.
As they peeked around the corner of what looked like a parlor, Kaelis froze. He transformed into his human form and crouched at Wylan’s feet. “That’s them!” He hissed, pointing at what looked like two butter colored tabbies laying in front of a fireplace.
Wylan’s heart surged. Finally.
As they tiptoed into the room, their joy turned to tragedy.
Lyris and Tallis weren’t snoozing by the fireplace. They were discarded in front of the fireplace, sewn into a hooded cloak.
Kaelis threw a hand over his mouth. Tears poured down his eyes. His shoulders trembled and shook.
“We need to go! We need to go now!” Wylan hissed into Kaelis’s ear.
The silently sobbing man transformed into a cat, Wylan scooped him up. Clutching him to his chest, Wylan took them back through the house and kitchens. He retrieved his bow and cloak from behind the shed and backtracked through the village square.
The executions were over and the crowds were cheering and celebrating.
Slumped in a pile on the stage were the headless bodies of Paige, Alice, Bilbo, and Peter.
“We’ll make her pay for this,” Wylan said quietly, “It’s a promise.”
We’re more than halfway through Wylan’s story, friends! If you’ve been reading from chapter one, or even if you just jumped in now I want to thank you for going on this fae-ntastic journey with this brave, audacious, and chaotic boy.
Next Friday there is no new chapter because of a ✨special announcement✨. The secret project I’ve been working on since December? It’ll be ✨revealed✨. You don’t want to miss out, so look out for that week’s email!